I keep thinking about it, but everything I have come up with also occurs in the animal kingdom. Art, language, tools, emotions, music, building on former knowledge (my cat did this!), even learning from one another. Yet the one thing I could think of that we, as of yet, have no proof with any other creature is the belief of the divine. Our understanding of God, in any form you wish to give her, is what I believe makes us truly unique.

–Sara SchulzLake Geneva, WI

We all became human when we no longer were hairy little beings swinging from trees and throwing poo at each other, now we are naked beings walking upright throwing bombs and oppression; thankfully most of us have evolved further and no longer have this primal trait… my human spark is being a good father, friend, brother and companion to my beings in this world.

–Ian SmitWorthington, OH

I’m sure curiosity, the unmoved mover inside us all, is the basic human spark. From the “hot stove” to the first kiss, it’s what leads to pain, and pleasure then peace and suffering. In humans discovery is predicated by curiosity but as a paradox of truth it’s our universal child-like wonder that’s waiting to be discovered as we’re born. So then from there: fire, the wheel, language, the Earth’s horizon, space, love, life, and death. The monolith in Stanley Kubrick’s Space Odyssey: 2001 is a symbol for our common internal muse of basic curiosity. It brings us each into existence and somehow as it begins to die, we begin to die. Beyond that, over time, curiosity has taken our human race into the halls of science, religion, and philosophy. It’s the tiny living spark at the near end of a long waiting fuse.

–Brad BurkleyDiwaniya, Iraq

What makes us human is our ability to care for one another. We anthropomorphize nature and deify it but compassion is not a physical law but a human construction. There are not many vegan Tigers that fight for equal rights and fair wages. Human nature is your Aunt Katrina that bakes you chocolate cookies. Physical nature that other Katrina, merciless hurricane. I choose Aunt Katrina.

–Chris HellstromStaten Island, NY

What makes us human is our delusion of superiority amongst all the living beings in this planet we called Earth.